a cadet's honor, upton sinclair

8/6/2019 A Cadet's Honor, Upton Sinclair

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Title: A Cadet's HonorMark Mallory's Heroism

Author: Upton Sinclair

Release Date: May 13, 2011 [eBook #36099]

Language: English

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Transcriber's note:

"Lieut. Frederick Garrison" is a pseudonym used by UptonSinclair.

[Illustration: "'The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams,' said he, 'donot speak to Mr. Mallory.'" (see page 90)]

A CADET'S HONOR

Or

Mark Mallory's Heroism


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by

LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A.

Author of "Off for West Point," "On Guard," "A West Point Treasure," etc.

[Illustration: BOYS' OWN LIBRARY]

PhiladelphiaDavid Mckay, Publisher610 South Washington Square

Copyright, 1903By Street & Smith

A Cadet's Honor

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGEI--A "Yearling" Meeting 7II--Mark's Mysterious Visitor 19

III--Trouble for Mark 26IV--The Explanation 38V--Mark in Disgrace 46VI--Indian's Re-examination 58VII--The Examination of the Parson 66VIII--The Rescue Party 72IX--Heroism of the Parson 76X--More Troubles 81XI--Disadvantages of "Coventry" 85XII--The Embassy of the Parson 91XIII--Preparations for the Battle 99XIV--The Affair at the Fort 109XV--Two Plebes in Hospital 117XVI--The Parson's Indignation 124XVII--Indian in Trouble 133XVIII--To the Rescue 146XIX--The Alliance is Completed 156XX--Indignation of the Yearlings 162XXI--A Mild Attempt at Hazing 171XXII--The Bombshell Falls 177XXIII--In the Shadow of Dismissal 185XXIV--A Letter 193XXV--A Swimming Match 204XXVI--The Finish of a Race 211XXVII--What Mark Did 219

XXVIII--Mark Meets the Superintendent 231XXIX--The Seven in Session 239XXX--The Move into Camp 248


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XXXI--"First Night" 257XXXII--Conclusion 268

A CADET'S HONOR

CHAPTER I.

A "YEARLING" MEETING.

The whole class came to the meeting. There hadn't been such an importantmeeting at West Point for many a day. The yearling class had beenoutrageously insulted. The mightiest traditions of the academy had been

violated, "trampled beneath the dust," and that by two or three vile anduncivilized "beasts"--"plebes"--new cadets of scarcely a week'sexperience. And the third class, the yearlings, by inherent right theguardians of West Point's honor, and the hazers of the plebe, had vowedthat those plebes must be punished as never had plebes been punishedbefore.

The first and third classes of cadets had gone into summer camp theprevious day, immediately after the graduation exercises. From thatdate, the middle of June to July 1, they have a comparative holiday,with no drills and no duties except guard-mounting, dress parade towardevening, and inspections. And it was during the first of the holidaymornings that the above-mentioned "meeting" was held, beneath the shady

trees of Trophy Point, a short distance from the camp.

"I move," shouted a voice in the crowd, "that we elect Bud Smithchairman."

The motion was carried with a shout, and Bud Smith, just out of hospitalby the way, was "boosted" up onto one of the guns, which served as the"chair." Bud Smith was a tall, heavily-built youth with a face coveredby court-plaster and "contusions," as the results of a West Point fightare officially designated by the hospital surgeon.

"This meeting will please come to order," said the chairman. "And thegentlemen will oblige me by keeping quiet and not compelling me to usemy voice much. For I am--er--not feeling very well to-day."

And Bud illustrated his statement by gently mopping his "contusions"with a damp handkerchief.

"We have met," began the chairman, as soon as this formality wasover--"we have met, I believe, to consider the cases of three 'beasts,'Powers, Stanard and Mallory, by name (a low groan from the class), andto consider the best method of reducing them to submission. I don'tthink it is necessary for me to restate the complaints against them, foryou are probably all as familiar with the incidents as I. 'Texas'Powers, or as he calls himself, Jeremiah, son o' the Honorable Scrap

Powers, o' Hurricane County, Texas, must be disciplined because he failsto understand what is expected of him. He dared to order a superiorofficer out of his room, and last Monday morning he succeeded in


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defeating no less than four men in our class--myself among them."

And Cadet Smith again mopped his "contusions," and went on.

"Of course we have got to find somebody to whip him. Then, too, Stanardlost his temper and attacked half a dozen of our class, for no otherreason on earth than that they tied him in a sack and carried him out

onto the cavalry plain. He, too, was victorious, I am told. And then,last of all, but of all the offenders most insolent and lawless,comes----"

The chairman paused solemnly before he pronounced the name.

"Mark Mallory."

And the storm of hisses and jeers that followed could have been heard atbarracks. It was evident that the yearlings had no love for MarkMallory, whoever Mark Mallory might be.

"Mark Mallory commenced his tricks," the chairman continued, "evenbefore he was a cadet. He was impudent then. And the other day he daredto act as Powers' second. And, worse than all, yesterday, to show howutterly reckless and B. J. he is, he deliberately locked Bull Harris andBaby Edwards up in an icehouse, with the intention of making them absentat taps and compelling them to remain imprisoned all night. It was onlyby the merest accident, they succeeding in forcing the door, that thisplan was frustrated. Now, gentlemen, this thing is about as serious asit can possibly be. Mark Mallory's conduct shows that he's gotten theidea into his head that not only can he avoid being hazed, but even turnthe tables upon us and bid us defiance. His attack upon the two cadetswas absolutely unprovoked. Bull told me personally that he had notattempted to haze him, and had not even spoken to him. It was a pure

case of freshness and nothing else. And he's got to be licked for ituntil he can't stand up."

Bud Smith finished his speech amid a round of applause, and then fell tosoothing his "contusions" again.

It may as well be stated here that Bull Harris' account of the incidentthat was just now causing so much talk was an absolute falsehood. Astold in a previous volume, entitled "Off for West Point," Bull and hisgang had made an attempt to lock Mark up, and had failed, and beenlocked up themselves instead. That was all. But Bull and his gang sawfit to omit that part of the story. It was safe, for no one couldgainsay it; Mark's account was not asked for.

"I move, Mr. Chairman," said Corporal Jasper, rising, "that inasmuch asMallory seems to be the leader of this fool business, that we lick himfirst, and that, too, to-morrow morning. For it's growing worse everyminute. The plebes are getting so downright B. J. that a fellow can'teven give an order without fearing to be disobeyed. To-morrow morning, Isay. And I call for some one to volunteer."

The young officer's motion took the crowd's fancy.

"Who'll fight him? Who'll fight him?" became the cry, and was followedby a chorus of names offered as suggestions. One was predominant, and

seemed to be the most popular.

"Williams! Billy Williams. Get up, Billy! Speech!"


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And "Billy" arose from the ground as the cry grew louder, and said thathe was "very much honored," and that if the class really selected him hewould be most happy to do the best he possibly could.

"Hooray! Billy's going to lick him! 'Ray for Billy."

"I move, Mr. Chairman, that a committee be appointed to convey thechallenge on behalf of the class."

"Carried," said the chairman. "I appoint Corporal Jasper and CadetSpencer. This meeting stands adjourned."

And the yearlings scattered, bearing "Billy Williams" off in triumph.

The committee, much as it hated to, was obliged to delay the sending ofthe challenge. There were two reasons: In the first place, Mark Mallory,together with the rest of the plebes, was being bullied and tormentedjust then in the course of a squad drill; and, in the second place, one

of the committee, Cadet Spencer, was engaged in doing the bullying,having been appointed "on duty over plebes."

After supper, however, came a blissful half hour of rest to thelast-named unfortunates; and then the three yearlings gathered together,took an extra quantity of dignity, and sallied forth to find the three"B. J.'s."

"B. J.," it may be added, is West Point for fresh, and stands for"before June."

Entering barracks, the committee made straight for Mark Mallory's roomand knocked.

"Come in, thar!" shouted a voice.

There were four occupants in the room. One was a round, fat-faced boywith an alarmed, nervous look, Cadet Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis,commonly known as "Indian."

In a chair by the window sat a still more curious figure, a lank, bonyindividual with ill-fitted, straying clothes and a long, sharp face.

Upon his big, bulging knees rested a leather-bound volume labeled"Dana's Geology," and opened at the Tertiary fossiliferous strata of theHudson River Valley. "Parson" Peter Stanard was too much interested tonotice the entrance of the cadets. He was trying to classify a Cyathophylloid coral which he had just had the luck to find.

Sprawled upon the bed was another tall, slender fellow, his feet hoistedup on the pile of blankets at the foot. All the committee saw of "Texas"Powers was a pair of soles, for Texas didn't care to move.

The fourth party was a handsome, broad-shouldered chap, with curly brownhair. And to him Corporal Jasper, the spokesman, addressed himself.

"Mr. Mallory?" said he.

Mr. Mallory bowed.

"We have come as a committee representing the yearling class."


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"I am honored," said Mr. Mallory.

"Pray do not feel so in the least," said Corporal Jasper, witheringly."The class desires to express, in the first place, its entiredispleasure, both as a class and as individuals, at your unprovokedconduct toward two of its members."

"Um," said Mark, thoughtfully. "And did the two members tell you theattack was unprovoked?"

"They did."

"Then I desire to express, in the first place, my entire displeasure,both as a class and as an individual, at being thus grosslymisrepresented."

"Bully!" came the voice from behind the mattress.

"In short," continued Mark, "I desire to call the statement of Messrs.Harris and Edwards a downright, unmitigated and contemptible lie."

"Sock it to 'em!" chuckled the voice from the mattress. "Wow!"

"Well put!" added "Parson" Stanard. "Worthy of the great Patrick Henryhimself."

"Bless my soul!" chimed Indian, ready to run.

Cadet Jasper took it coolly, like the gentleman he was.

"It is customary, Mr. Mallory," he said, calmly, "for a man to have to

earn the right to call a higher class man a liar."

"I am quite ready, sir," responded Mr. Mallory.

"That is fortunate. The class offers you such an opportunity. We aredirected to bring a challenge from Cadet Williams, of the third class,to meet him at Fort Clinton at four o'clock to-morrow morning."

"I will consider it a favor," said Mark, politely, "if you will be goodenough to inform the class that I am most happy to accept."

"An' look a yere," cried Texas, Mark's chum, raising his head andpeering out between his feet. "Look a yere! Whar do I come in, in thisbizness?"

"Your seconds?" inquired Jasper, not noticing the interruption.

"Mr. Powers and Mr. Stanard."

"And is there any other information?"

"None."

"Remember, Fort Clinton at four A. M."

"I shall be there without fail. And I thank you for your trouble in thematter."


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Cadets Jasper and Spencer bowed and withdrew, while the four "beasts"sat and looked at each other in silence.

"Well," Mark said, at last, "what do you think of it?"

"Think?" growled Texas. "I think it's a skin, that's what I think. An'it's jest like you an' your luck, Mark Mallory!"

And, so saying, Texas kicked the mattress off the bed.

"If you don't do that feller Williams, whoever he is, in the firstround, I'll kick you out an' do it myself!"

"But who is this Williams?" inquired Mark, as he picked up the mattressand threw it at Texas. "Does anybody here know?"

"I do," said the "Parson," reverently depositing Dana on the floor. "Ido know, and I shall, forsooth, be very happy to tell you about him.Williams is, in the first place, as to physical proportions, the largest

man in his class; in the second place, he is the best all-aroundman----"

"All round like Indian?" inquired Texas, gravely.

"Inasmuch as," continued the "Parson," "he won a considerable proportionof the Olympic contests, which are celebrated here under the designationof 'the spring games.'"

"That sounds promising," said Mark, thoughtfully. "I wonder if he canfight."

"As to his pugilistic abilities, I am by no means so accurately

informed, but if my conjecture be of any value whatsoever, I should beinclined to infer, from the fact that our enemies, the representativesof tyranny and oppression, who are endeavoring to reduce us tosubmission, have selected him as their champion and representative inarms, that----"

"He's a beaut," put in Texas, to save time. "And I only wish I'd hadMark's luck."

"And I wish," added the Boston student, "that I could contrive toaccount for the presence of this Cyathodhylloid fossil in a sandstone ofTertiary origin."

It was not very long after this that "tattoo" sounded. But before it didthe little band of rebels up in the barracks had time to swear eternalfealty, and to vow by all that man held dear to be present "at FortClinton at four A. M. to-morrow," there, as the "Parson" classically putit, to fire a shot for freedom that should be heard around the world.Mark swore it, and Indian, too; Texas swore it by the seventeen gunswhich were stowed away in his trunk, and by the honor of his father,"the Honorable Scrap Powers, o' Hurricane County;" and Peter Stanardswore it by Bunker Hill and, yea, even by Lamachus, he of the Gorgon'screst.

And then the meeting adjourned.


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CHAPTER II.

MARK'S MYSTERIOUS VISITOR.

These were days of work for the plebes at West Point--days of drilling

and practicing from sunrise to night, until mind and body wereexhausted. And it usually happened that most of the unfortunates werealready sound asleep by the time "tattoo" was sounded, that is, unlessthe unfortunates had been still more unfortunate, unfortunate enough tofall into the clutches of the merciless yearling. When "taps" came halfan hour later, meaning lights out and all quiet, there was usually scantneed for the round of the watchful "tac," as the tactical officer isdesignated.

It happened so on this night. The "tac" found all quiet except for thesnoring. And, this duty over, the officer made his way to his own home;and after that there was nothing awake except the lonely sentry who

marched tirelessly up and down the halls.

The night wore on, the moon rose and shone down in the silent area,making the shadows of the gray stone building stand out dark and black.And the clock on the guardhouse indicated the hour of eleven.

It was not very many minutes more before there was a dark, shadowy form,stealing in by the eastern sally-port, and hugging closely the blackshadows of the wall. He paused, whoever it was, when he reached thearea, and waited, listening. The sentry's tramp grew clear and then diedout again, which meant that the sentry was back in the hallway of thebarracks, and then the shadowy form stepped out into the moonlight andran swiftly and silently across the area and sprang up the steps to the

porch of the building; and there he stood and waited again until oncemore the sentry was far away--then stepped into the doorway and creptsoftly up the stairs. The strange midnight visitor was evidently someone who knew the place.

He knew just the room he was going to, also, for he wasted not amoment's time, but stole swiftly down the hall, and stopped before oneof the doors. It was the room of Cadets Mallory and Powers.

Doors at West Point are never locked; there are no keys. The strangevisitor crouched and listened cautiously. A sound of deep and regularbreathing came from within, and, hearing it, he softly opened the door,entered and then just as carefully shut it behind him. Having attendedto this, he crept to one of the beds. He seemed to know which one hewanted without even looking; it was Mark Mallory's. And then thestranger leaned over and gently touched the occupant.

The occupant was sleeping soundly, for he was tired; the touch had noeffect upon him. The visitor tried again, and harder, this time withsuccess. Mark Mallory sat up in alarm.

"Ssh! Don't make a sound," whispered the other. "I've got a message foryou. Ssh!"

It is enough to alarm any one to be awakened out of a sound sleep in

such a manner, and at such a time, and Mark's heart was thumpingfuriously.


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"Who are you?" he whispered.

The figure made no answer, but crept to the window, instead, where themoonlight was streaming in. And Mark recognized him instantly as one ofthe small drum orderlies he had seen about the post. Half his alarmsubsided then, and he arose and joined the boy at the window.

"Here," said the boy. "Read it."

And so saying, he shoved a note into the other's hand. Mark took ithurriedly, tore it open and read it.

It took him but a moment to do so, and when he finished his face was apicture of amazement and incredulity.

"Who gave you this?" he demanded, angrily.

"Ssh!" whispered the boy, glancing fearfully at the bed where Texas lay."Ssh! You may wake him. She did."

"Now, look here!" said Mark, in a recklessly loud voice, for he wasangry, believing that the boy was lying. "Now, look here! I've beenfooled with one letter this way, and I don't mean to be fooled again. Ifthis is a trap of those cadets, as sure as I'm alive, I'll report thematter to the superintendent and have you court-martialed. Remember! Andnow I give you a chance to take it back. If you tell me the truth I'lllet you go unhurt. Now, once more, who gave you this?"

And Mark looked the trembling boy in the eye; but the boy still clung tohis story.

"She did, indeed she did," he protested.

"Where?" asked Mark.

"Down at her house."

"Why were you there?"

"I live there."

Mark stared at the boy for a moment more, and bit his lip inuncertainty. Then he turned away and fell to pacing up and down theroom, muttering to himself.

"Yes," he said, "yes, I believe she wrote it. But what on earth can itmean? What on earth can be the matter?"

Then he turned to the boy.

"Do you know what she wants?" he inquired.

"No, sir," whispered the other. "Only she told me to show you the way toher house."

"Is anything the matter?"

"I don't know; but she looked very pale."

And Mark turned away once more and fell to pacing back and forth.


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"Shall I go?" he mused. "Shall I go? It's beyond cadet limits. If I'mcaught it means court-martial and expulsion. There's the 'blue book' onthe mantel staring at me for a warning. By jingo! I don't think I'llrisk it!"

He turned to the boy about to refuse the request; and then suddenly came

another thought--she knew the danger as well as he! She knew what itmeant to go beyond limits, and yet she had sent for him at this strangehour of the night, and for him, too, a comparative stranger. Surely, itmust be a desperate matter, a matter in which to fail was sheercowardice. At the same time with the thought there rose up before him avision of a certain very sweet and winsome face; and when he spoke tothe boy his answer was:

"I'll go."

He stepped to the desk, and wrote hastily on a piece of paper this noteto Texas:

"I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trustme.

"MARK."

This he laid on the bureau, and then silently but quickly put on hisclothes and stepped to the door with the boy. Mark halted for a momentand glanced about the room to make sure that all was well and that Texaswas asleep, and then he softly shut the door and turned to the boy.

"How are we going to get out?" he demanded.

"Come," responded the other, setting the example by creeping along ontiptoe. "Come."

They halted again at the top of the stairway to wait until the sentryhad gone down, and then stole down and dodged outside the door just asthe latter turned and marched back. Flattened against the wall, theywaited breathlessly, while he approached nearer and nearer, and then hehalted, wheeled and went on. At the same moment the two crept quicklyacross the area and vanished in the darkness of the sally port.

"Now," said the drum boy, as they came out on the other side, "here weare. Come on."

Mark turned and followed him swiftly down the road toward HighlandFalls, and quiet once more reigned about the post.

There was one thing more that needs to be mentioned. It was a verysimple incident, but it was destined to lead to a great deal. It wasmerely that a gust of wind blew in at the window of the room where Texasslept, and, seizing the sheet of paper upon which Mark had written,lifted it gently up and dropped it softly and silently behind thebureau, whither Mark had thrown the other note.

And that was all.


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CHAPTER III.

TROUBLE FOR MARK.

Time has a way of passing very hurriedly when there is anything going tohappen, especially if it be something disagreeable. The hands of the

clock had been at half-past eleven when Mark left. It took them almostno time to hurry on to midnight, and not much longer to get to two. Andfrom two it went on to three, and then to half-past. The blackness ofthe night began to wane, and the sky outside the window to lighten withthe first gray streaks of dawn. Not long after this time up in one ofthe rooms on the second floor of barracks, Division 8, the occupant ofone of the rooms began to grow restless. For the occupant had promisedhimself and others to awaken them. And awaken he did suddenly, andturned over, rubbed his eyes, and sat up.

"Mark! Oh, Mark!" he called, softly. "Git up, thar! It's time to behustlin'!"

There was no answer, and Texas got up, yawning, and went to the otherbed.

"Git up thar, you prize fighter you!"

And as he spoke he aimed a blow at the bed, and the next moment hestarted back in amazement, for his hand had touched nothing but amattress, and Texas knew that the bed was empty.

"Wow!" he muttered. "He's gone without me!"

And with this thought in his mind he rushed to his watch to see if he

were too late.

No, it was just ten minutes to four, and Texas started hastily to dress,wondering at the same time what on earth could have led Mark to go soearly and without his friend.

"That was the goldurndest queer trick I ever did hear of in my life, byjingo!"

It took him but a few short moments to fling his clothes on; and then hestepped quickly across the hall and entered a room on the other side.

"I wonder if that Parson's gone with him," he muttered.

The "Parson" had not, for Texas found him engaged in encasing his long,bony legs in a pair of trousers that would have held a dozen such.

"Are you accoutered for the combat?" he whispered, in a sepulchraltone, sleepily brushing his long black hair from his eyes. "Where isMark?"

"The fool's gone up there without us!" replied the Texan, angrily.

"Without us!" echoed Stanard, sliding into his pale sea-green socks.

"Bless my soul!" echoed a voice from the bed--Indian was too sleepy toget up. "Bless my soul, what an extraordinary proceeding!"


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"Come on," said Texas. "Hurry up."

The "Parson" snatched up his coat and made for the door.

"I think," said he, halting at the door in hesitation. "I think I'llleave my book behind. I'll hardly need it, do you think?"

"Come on!" growled Texas, impatiently. "Hurry up!"

Texas was beginning to get angry, as he thought, over Mark's "fooltrick."

The two dodged the sentry without much trouble; it is probable that thesentry didn't want to see them, even if he did. They ran hastily outthrough the sally port and across the parade ground, Texas, in hisimpatience, dragging his long-legged companion in tow. They made a longdetour and approached Fort Clinton from behind the hotel, in order toavoid the camp. Hearing voices from inside the embankment, Texas spranghastily forward, scrambled up the bank, and peered down into the

inclosure.

"Here they are," called one of the cadets, and then, as he glanced atthe two, he added: "But where's Mallory?"

And Texas gazed about him in blank amazement.

"Where is he?" he echoed. "Where is he? Why, ain't he yere?"

It was the cadets' turn to look surprised.

"Here?" echoed Corporal Jasper. "Here! Why, we haven't seen him."

"Hain't seen him!" roared Texas, wild with vexation. "What in thunder!"

"Wasn't he in your room?" inquired somebody.

"No. He was gone! I thought, of course, he'd come out yere."

And Texas fell to pacing up and down inside the fort, chewing at hisfinger nails and muttering angrily to himself, while the yearlingsgathered into a group and speculated what the strange turn in the affaircould mean.

"It's ten to one he's flunked," put in Bull Harris, grinning joyfully.

Some such idea was lurking in Texas' mind, too, but it made him mad thatany of his enemies should say it.

"If he has," he bellowed, wheeling about angrily and facing the cadet."If he has it's because you've tricked him again, you ole white-leggedscoundrel you!"

Texas doubled up his fists and looked ready to fight right then; BullHarris opened his mouth to answer, but Jasper interposed:

"That's enough," said he. "We can settle this some other time. Thequestion is now about Mallory. You say, Mr. Powers, you've not the least

idea where he is?"

"If I had," responded Texas, "if I had, d'you think I'd be hyar?"


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Jasper glanced at his watch. "It's five minutes after now," said he,"and I----"

He got no farther, for Texas started forward on a run.

"I'm a goin' to look fo' him!" he announced. And then he sprang over the

embankment and disappeared, while the cadets stood about waitingimpatiently, and speculating as to what Mark's conduct could mean. PoorStanard sat sprawled out on top of the earthworks, where he sat down inamazement and confusion when he discovered that Mark was not on hand;and there he sat yet, too much amazed and confused to move or sayanything.

Meanwhile Texas was hurrying back to barracks with all the speed hecould command, his mind in a confused state of anxiety and doubt andanger. The position of humiliation in which Mark's conduct had placedhim was gall and wormwood to him, and he was fast working himself into atemper of the Texas style.

He rushed upstairs, forgetting that such a thing as a sentry existed. Heburst into the room and gazed about him. The place was empty still, andTexas slammed the door and marched downstairs again, and raced back tothe fort.

The cadets were still waiting impatiently, for it was a good while afterfour by this time.

"Find him?" they inquired.

"No, I didn't!" snapped Texas.

"No fight, then," said Jasper. "It's evident he's flunked."

"Wow!" cried Texas! "No fight! What's the matter with me?"

And, suiting the action to the word, he whipped off his coat.

"Not to-day," responded Jasper, with decision. "You'll have your chanceanother day."

"Unless you run home, too," sneered Harris.

Texas' face was fiery red with anger, and he doubled up his fists andmade a leap for the last speaker.

"You coyote!" he roared. "You an' me'll fight now!"

Bull Harris started back, and before Texas could reach him half a dozencadets interfered. Williams, the would-be defender of his class, seizedthe half-wild fellow by the shoulders and forced him back.

"Just take it easy," he commanded. "Just take it easy. You'll learn tocontrol yourself before you've been here long."

Texas could do nothing, for he was surrounded completely. Bull Harriswas led away, and then the rest of the cadets scattered to steal into

camp, but Texas snatched up his coat in a rage, and strode away towardbarracks, muttering angrily to himself, the "Parson" following behind insilence. The latter ventured to interpose a remark on the way, and Texas


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turned upon him angrily.

"Shut up!" he growled. "Mind your business!"

Stanard gazed at him in silence.

"I guess I'll have to knock him down again," he said to himself.

But he didn't, at least, not then; and Texas pranced up to his room andflung himself into a chair, muttering uncomplimentary remarks about Markand West Point and everything in it. It was just half-past four when heentered, and for fifteen minutes he sat and pounded the floor with hisheel in rage. Texas was about as mad as he knew how to be, which wasvery mad indeed. And then suddenly there was a step in the hall and thedoor was burst open. Texas turned and looked.

It was Mark!

Texas sprang to his feet in an instant, all his wrath aflame. Mark had

come in hurriedly, for he had evidently been running.

"What happened----" he began, but he got no further.

"You confounded coward!" roared Texas. "Whar did you git the nerve toshow yo' face round hyar?"

"Why, Texas?" exclaimed Mark, in amazement.

Texas was prancing up and down the room, his fingers twitching.

"I jest tell you, sah, they ain't no room in my room fo' a coward thatsneaks off when he's got a fight. Now I----"

"I left word for you," said Mark, interrupting him.

"Word for me! Word for me!" howled the other. "You're a--a--a liar,sah!"

Mark's face was as white as a sheet, but he kept his temper.

"Now, Texas," he began again, soothingly. "Now, Texas----"

"Take that, too, will ye?" sneered Texas. "You're coward enough toswallow that, too, hey? Wonder how much more you'll stand. Try that."

And before Mark could raise his arm the other sprang forward and dealthim a stinging blow upon the face.

Mark stepped back, his whole frame quivering.

"How much?" he repeated, slowly. "Not that."

And then, just as slowly, he took off his coat.

"Fight, hey?" laughed Texas. "Wow! Ready?" he added, flinging his ownjacket on the floor and getting his great long arms into motion."Ready?"

"Yes," said Mark. "I am ready."


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And in an instant the other leaped forward, just as he had done at FortClinton, except that he omitted the yelling, being indoors with a sentrynearby.

Physically two fighters were never more evenly matched; no one, to lookat them, could have picked the winner, for both were giants. But therewas a difference apparent before very long. Texas fought in the wild and

savage style of the prairie, nip-and-tuck, go-as-you-please; and he waswild with anger. He had swept the yearlings at Fort Clinton before himthat way and he thought to do it again. Mark had another style, a stylethat Texas had never seen. He learned a good deal about it in a very fewminutes.

Texas started with a rush, striking right and left with all the power ofhis arms; and Mark simply stepped to one side and let the wall stopTexas. That made Texas angrier still, if such a thing can be imagined.He turned and made another dash, this time aiming a savage blow at hisopponent's head. In it was all the power of the Texan's great right arm,and it was meant to kill. Mark moved his head to one side and let the

blow pass, stopping the rush with a firm prod in the other's chest; thenhe stepped aside and waited for another rush. For he did not want tohurt his excited roommate if he could help it.

A repetition of this had no effect upon Texas, however, except toincrease his fury, and Mark found that he was fast getting mad himself.A glancing blow upon the head that brought blood capped the climax, andMark gritted his teeth and got to work. Texas made another lunge, whichMark dodged, and then, before the former could stop, Mark caught him acrushing blow upon the jaw which made his teeth rattle. Texas staggeredback, and Mark followed him up rapidly, planting blow after blow uponthe body of his wildly striking opponent. And in a few moments Texas,the invincible Texas, was being rapidly pummeled into submission.

"I'll leave his face alone," thought Mark, as he aimed a blow that halfparalyzed the other's right wrist. "For I don't want the cadets to knowabout this."

And just then he landed an extra hard crack upon the other's chest, andTexas went down in a corner.

"Want any more?" inquired Mark, gravely.

Texas staggered to his feet and made one more rush, only to be promptlylaid out again.

"I guess that's enough," thought Mark, as the other lay still andgasped. "I guess that's enough for poor Texas."

And so saying, he took out his handkerchief, wiped the blood from hisface, and then opened the door and went out.

"I'm sorry I had to do it," he mused; "sorry as thunder! But he made me.And anyhow, he won't want to fight very soon again."

CHAPTER IV.

THE EXPLANATION.


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Mark had barely reached the head of the stairs before the morning gunsounded, and five minutes later he was in line at roll call with therest of his class. It is needless to say that Texas was absent.

Texas woke up a while later, and staggered to his feet, feeling

carefully of his ribs to make sure they were not really broken. And thenhe went out and interviewed a sentry in the hall.

"Look a yere, mister," said he. "Where's this yere place they call thehospital?"

The sentry directed him to await the proper hour, and Texas spentthe rest of that day, reported by the surgeon as "absent fromduty--sick--contusions." And the whole class wondered why.

Mark noticed that the cadets were looking at him at breakfast; and henoticed that the members of his own class were rather distant, but he

gritted his teeth and made up his mind to face it out.

"If even Texas called me a coward," he mused, "I can't expect the restof 'em to do otherwise."

And so it seemed, for that same morning just after breakfast CorporalJasper and Cadet Spencer paid a visit to Mark.

"The class would like, if you please, Mr. Mallory," said the former, "anexplanation of your conduct this morning."

"And I am sorry to say," responded Mark, just as politely, "that I amunable to give it. All I can say is that my conduct, though it may seem

strange and mysterious, was unavoidable. If you will allow me, I shallbe pleased to meet Mr. Williams to-morrow."

"We cannot allow it," said Jasper, emphatically, "unless you consent toexplain your action and can succeed in doing it satisfactorily, whichyou will pardon me for saying I doubt very much, you stand before theacademy branded as a coward."

"Very well," said Mark, "let it be so."

And he turned away, and all through that long, weary morning and theafternoon, too. Cadet Mallory was in Coventry, and not a soul spoke aword to him, except Cadet Spencer, at drill. And he was frigid.

Cadet Powers was released from the hospital "cured" that evening aftersupper, and he limped upstairs to his room, and sat down to think abouthimself, and to philosophize upon the vanities of life and the folliesof ambition. Mark did not come up until "tattoo" sounded, and so Texashad plenty of time. He felt very meek just then; he wasn't angry anymore, and he'd had plenty of time also to think over what a fool he hadbeen in not listening to Mark's explanation of his absence. For Texashad been suddenly convinced that Mark was no coward after all.

While he sat there, a piece of paper sticking out from under the bureaucaught his eye. Texas was getting very neat recently under West Point

discipline; he picked that paper up, and read as follows:

"I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trust


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me.

"MARK."

"Oh!" cried Texas, springing up from his chair and wrenching adilapidated shoulder. "He told me he did that--and I called him a liar!"

Texas walked up and down, and mused some more. Then it occurred to himthere might be more paper under that bureau to explain things. He gotdown, painfully, and fished out another crumpled note. And he read that,too:

"DEAR MR. MALLORY: I am in deep trouble, and I needyour aid at once. You can tell how serious the troubleis by the fact that I ask you to come to meimmediately. If you care to do a generous and helpfulact pray do not refuse. Sincerely yours,

"MARY ADAMS."

Mary Adams was a girl well known to many of the cadets.

The letter was roughly scrawled on a pad, and when Texas finishedreading it he flung it on the floor and went and glared at himself inthe mirror.

"You idiot!" he muttered, shaking his fist at himself. "Here them olecadets went an' fooled Mark Mallory again, an' you--bah!"

Texas was repentant through and through by that time; he grabbed up hiscap savagely and made for the door, with a reckless disregard for sorejoints. He hobbled downstairs and out of barracks, and caught Mark by

the arm just as Mark was coming in.

"Well, Texas?" inquired Mark, smiling.

"Fust place," said Texas, briefly, "want to thank you fo' lickin' me."

"Welcome," said Mark.

"Second place, do it ag'in if I ever lose my temper."

"Welcome," said Mark.

"Third place, I want to 'pologize."

"What's up? What's happened to convince you?"

"Nothin' much," said Texas, "only I been a' findin' out what a fool Iam. Hones' now, Mark," and as Mark looked into the other's pleading grayeyes he saw that Texas meant it. "Hones' now, this yere's fust time Iever 'pologized in my life. I'm sorry."

And Mark took him by the hand. They were friends again from that moment.

"I jist saw that second note from Mary Adams upstairs," explained Texas,"an' then I knowed them ole cadets had fooled you that way ag'in. Say,

Mark, you're mos' as big a fool as me--mos'."

"That note was genuine," answered Mark. And then as he saw Texas'


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amazement, he led him aside and explained. "I'll tell you about it,"said he, "for I can trust you not to tell. But I can't explain to therest of the class, and I won't, either, though they may call me acoward if they choose.

"A drummer boy came up here last night--or, rather, this morning. Hewoke me up and gave me that note, swore it was genuine, too, and I

believed him in the end. As you see, Mary Adams wanted to see me, andshe was in a desperate hurry about it. Well, I debated over it for along time; at first I thought I wouldn't, for I was afraid ofcourt-martial; but then as I thought of her in distress I made up mymind to risk it, and I went. As it turned out, old man, you'd have beenashamed of me if I hadn't. There are worse things than being called acoward, and one of em's being a coward.

"I found her in great trouble, as she said. She has a brother, a fellowof about twenty-two, I guess. She lives with her widowed mother, and hetakes care of them. I think they are poor. Anyway, this brother hadgotten two or three hundred dollars from his employer to take a trip out

West. He had fallen in with a rather tough crowd down in the village,and they were busy making him spend it as fast as he could. That was thesituation."

"It was tough," commented Texas.

"The problem was to get him away. The girl hadn't a friend on earth tocall on, and she happened to think of me. She begged me to try to gethim away. And I'll tell you one thing, too, Texas. The cadets say she'sa flirt and all that. She may be. I haven't had a chance to find out,and I don't propose to; but a girl that thinks as much of her brother asshe does, and does as much for him, is not beyond respect by a goodsight. I was really quite taken with her last night."

"Beware the serpent," put in Texas, laughing. "She's pretty, I'm told.Go on."

"Well, I found him, after a couple of hours' search, in a tough dive,with a crowd of loafers hanging on to him. I got him out, but I had toknock down----"

"Hey!" cried Texas, springing up in excitement. "Had a fight, did ye?Why didn't you take me 'long?"

"I didn't know I was going to fight," said Mark, laughing.

"And did you lick 'em?"

"I only had to lick two, and then the rest ran."

Texas sighed resignedly, and Mark went on:

"I took him home, as I said, and left him with her. I got home just intime for reveille."

"Time to have me call you names and to lick me blue, for the same whichI have jest thanked yo," added Texas, his eyes suspiciously moist. "An'look a yere, ole man"--Texas slung his hand around to his hip pocket and

"pulled" a beautiful silver-mounted revolver, loaded "to thebrim"--"look a yere, Mark. This yere gun, I ain't ever gone out 'thoutit fo' ten year. She's a----"


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"You don't mean to say you've had it on up here!"

"Sho'," said Texas, "an' I come near usin' it on you, too. Mark, youdunno how a Texas man is with a gun. Mos' of 'em 'ud ruther sell theirwives. An' I'm a goin' to give you this to show that--er--that ther'ain't no hard feelin's, you know."

"And I'll take it," said Mark, getting hold of Texas' other hand at thesame time--"take it, if it's only to keep you from carrying it. Andthere aren't any hard feelings."

CHAPTER V.

MARK IN DISGRACE.

"In my excursions into the various fields of knowledge I have never yethad occasion to investigate the alleged discoveries of phrenologicalexperimentalists, and yet----"

The speaker paused for a moment, long enough to sigh mournfully. Then hecontinued:

"And yet I had, I think, sufficient perception of character asdelineated by the outlines of physiognomy to recognize at once the factthat the person to whom we refer is in no way a coward."

"I wish I had, Parson," responded his companion, ruefully rubbing a

large lump upon his forehead. "I wish I had."

The thin, learned features of the first speaker found it difficult toindicate any amusement, and yet there was the trace of a smile about hismouth as he answered.

"You say he 'licked' you, to use your own rather unclassic phrase?" heinquired.

"Licked me? Wow! He gave me, sah, the very worst lickin' I ever got inmy life--which is very natural, seeing that when a feller gits lickeddown in Texas they bury him afterward. I reckon I'd be a gunnin' fo' himright now, if 'twarn't seein' it's Mark Mallory. Why, man, a fellercan't stay mad with Mark Mallory long!"

It was just dinner time and Parson and Texas were sitting on the stepsof barracks, waiting for the summons and talking over the events of theprevious day.

"And how did this encounter originate?" inquired the Parson.

"All in my foolishness!" growled Texas. "You see yesterday morning whenhe didn't turn up to fight that 'ere yearling fellow Williams, I thought'twas cause he was scared. An' so I got mad an' when he did turn up Iwent fo' him. An' then I went fo' the hospital."

"His conduct did seem unaccountable," rejoined the other. "And yetsomehow I had an instinctive intuition, so to speak, that there was an


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adequate reason. And one is apt to find that such impressions aretrustworthy, as, indeed, was most obviously demonstrated andconsistently maintained by the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Areyou acquainted with Kant's antinomies?" the Parson added, anxiously.

"No," said Powers. "I ain't. They ain't got to Texas yit. But I wish I'dhad more sense'n to git mad with Mark. I tell you I felt cheap when he

did explain. I kain't tell you the reason yit, but you'll know it beforelong. All I kin say is he went down to Cranston's."

"To Cranston's? I thought we weren't allowed off the grounds."

"We ain't. But he took the risk of expulsion."

"And another, too," put in the Parson, "the risk of being called acoward an' being ostracised by the cadets."

"I dunno 'bout the astercizin' part," said Texas, "but I know theycalled him a coward, an' I know they cut him dead. There won't even a

plebe speak to him, 'cept me an' you an' Injun. An' it's what I calldurnation tough now, by Jingo!"

"It don't worry me very much," put in a voice behind them.

The two turned and saw Mark looking at them with an amused expression.

"It don't worry me much," he repeated. "I guess I can stand it ifyou'll stand by me. And I think pretty soon I can get another chance atWilliams, and then----"

"If ye do," cried the excitable Texan, springing up, "I'll back you tomurder him in jist about half a minute."

"It won't be so easy," responded Mark, "for Williams is the best man inhis class, and that's saying a great deal. But I'll try it; and in themeantime we'll face out the disgrace. I can stand it, for really thereisn't much privation when you have three to keep you company."

"I reckon," put in Texas, after a moment's thought, "I reckon we'll haveto put off aformin' o' thet ere new organization we were a-talkin''bout. Cuz we kain't git anybody to join ef they won't any of 'em speakto us."

"I guess we three are enough for the present," said Mark, "at leastwhile all the cadets leave us alone. And if they try to haze us I thinkwe can fight about as well as the rest of them. Then there's Indian,too, you know; I don't think he can fight much, but he's----"

"Now, see here!" cried an indignant voice from the doorway, "now seehere, you fellows! I think that's real mean, now, indeed I do. Didn't Itell you fellows I was going to learn to fight?" he expostulated."Didn't I? Bless my soul, now, what more can a man do?"

Mark winked slyly to his companions, and put on his most solemn air.

"Do?" he growled. "You ask what more can a man do? A man might, if hewere a man, rise up and prove his prowess and win himself a name. He

might gird up his loins and take his sword in his hand and sally forth,to vindicate his honor and the honor of his sworn friends and allies.That is what he might do. And instead what does he do? In slothfulness


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and cowardice he sits and suffers beneath the rod of tyranny andoppression!"

Mark finished out of breath and red in the face.

"Bless my soul!" cried Indian.

"Such a course is by no means entirely unprecedented," put in Stanard,solemnly. "It is common in the mythology of antiquity and in the legendsof medival times. Such was the course of Hercules, and thus did SirGalahad and the Knights of the Round Table."

Poor Joe Smith was gazing at the two speakers in perplexity. He wasn'tquite sure whether they were serious or not, but he thought they were,and he was on the verge of promising to go out and kill something,whether a cadet or a grizzly, at once. The only trouble was that thetall, sedate-looking officer of the day, in his spotless uniform ofgray and white and gold with a dazzling red sash thrown in, strode outof the guardhouse just then; a moment later came the cry, "New cadets

turn out!" and Indian drew a breath of relief at being delivered fromhis uncomfortable situation.

Saturday afternoon is a holiday at West Point. The luckless plebe,having been drilled and shouted at for a week, gets a much-needed chanceto do as he pleases, with the understanding, of course, that he does nothappen to fall into the hands of the yearlings. If he does, he does asthey please, instead.

Saturday afternoon is also a holiday time for the yearling, too, and heis accustomed to amuse himself with variety shows and concerts,recitations and exhibition drills, continuous performances that arefree, given by the "beasts," the "trained animals," or plebes.

It may be well at the start to have a word to say about "hazing" at WestPoint. Hazing is abolished there, so people say. At any rate, there arestringent measures taken to prevent it. A cadet is forbidden in any wayto lay hands upon the plebe; he is forbidden to give any degradingcommand or exact any menial service; and the penalty for breaking theserules is dismissal. The plebe is called up daily before the tacticalofficer in charge of his company, and asked if he has any complaint tomake.

Such are the methods. The results are supposed to be a complete stoppingof "deviling" in all its forms. The actual result has been that when ayearling wants to "lay hands upon the plebe" he does it on thesly--perhaps "yanks" him, as one peculiar form of nocturnal torture istermed. When the yearling wants some work done, instead of "commanding"he "requests," and with the utmost politeness. If he wants his guncleaned he kindly offers to "show" the plebe how to do it--taking careto see that the showing is done on his own gun and not on the plebe's.And the plebe is not supposed to object. He may, but in that case thereare other methods. If he reports anybody he is ostracised--"cut" byevery one, his own class included.

This being the case, we come to the events of this particular Saturdayafternoon.

"There were three wily yearlingsSet out one summer's day

To hunt the plebe so timid


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In barracks far away."

Only in this case there were half a dozen instead of three.

Now, of all the persons selected for torment that year, with thepossible exception of Mark and Texas, the two "B. J.'s," Indian was themost prominent. "Indian," as he was now called by the whole corps, was a

_rara avis_ among plebes, being an innocent, gullible person whobelieved implicitly everything that was told him, and could be scared todeath by a word. It was Indian that this particular crowd of merryyearlings set out to find.

Mark and Texas, it chanced, had gone out for a walk; "Parson" Stanardhad, wandered over to the library building to "ascertain the extent oftheir geological literature," and to get some information, if possible,about a most interesting question which was just then troubling him.

And poor Joe Smith was all alone in his room, dreading some visitationof evil.

The laughing crowd dashed up the steps and burst into the room. Indianhad been told what to do. "Heels together, turn out your toes, hands byyour sides, palms to the front, fingers closed, little fingers on theseams of the trousers, head up, chin in, shoulders thrown back, chestout. Here, you! Get that scared look off your face. Whacher 'fraid of.If you don't stop looking scared I'll murder you on the spot!"

And with preliminary introduction the whole crowd got at him at once.

"Can you play the piano? Go ahead, then. What! Haven't got any? Whydidn't you bring one? What's the use of being able to play the piano ifyou haven't a piano? Can you recite? Don't know anything? You look like

it. Here, take this paper--it's a song. Learn it now! Why don't youlearn it? What do you mean by staring at me instead of at the paper?There, that's right. Now sing the first six verses. Don't know 'em yet?Bah, what will you do when you come to trigonometry with a hundred andfourteen formulas to learn every night? Have you learned to stand onyour head yet? What! Didn't I tell you to do it? Who taught you to standon your feet, anyhow? Why don't you answer me, eh? Let's see you get upon that mantelpiece. Won't hold you? Well, who said it would? What'sthat got to do with it? No! Don't take that chair. Vault up! There. Nowflap your wings. What! Haven't got any? What kind of an angel are you,anyhow? Flap your ears. Let's hear you crow like a hen. Hens don't crow?What do you know about hens, anyway? Were you ever a hen? Well, whyweren't you? Were you ever a goose, then? No? Well, you certainly looklike it! Why don't you crow when we tell you? What kind of crowing isthat--flap your arms, there. Have you got any toothpicks? What! Notoothpicks? Don't suppose you have any teeth, either. Oh, so you havetoothpicks, have you? Well, why did you say you didn't? Take 'em out ofyour pockets and row yourself along that mantelpiece with 'em. 'Fraidyou'll fall off, eh? Well, we'll put you up again. Humpty Dumpty! Rowfast now! Row! Get that grin off your face. How dare you smile at ahigher classman! You are the most amazingly presumptuous beast that Iever heard of. Get down now, and don't break any bones about it,either!"

All these amazing orders, rattled off in a breath, and interspersed with

a variety of comment and ejaculation, poor Indian obeyed in fear andtrembling. He was commanded to fall down, and he fell; he was commandedto fall up, and he protested that the law of gravitation----"Bah! why


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don't you get the law repealed?" He wiped off a smile from his terrifiedface and threw it under the bed. Then, gasping, spluttering, he wentunder and got it. He strove his very best to go to sleep, amid avariety of suggestions, such as which eyes to shut and which lung tobreathe through.

This went on till the ingenuity of the cadets was nearly exhausted. Then

one individual, more learned than the rest, chanced to learn theidentity of the Indian's name with that of the great Mormon leader. Andinstantly he elbowed his way to the front.

"Look here, sir, who told you to be a Mormon? You're not a Mormon? Gotonly one wife, hey? None? Then what sort of a Mormon are you? Why haveyou got a Mormon's name? Did you steal it? Don't you know who JosephSmith was? No? Not you, the great Joseph Smith! Suppose you think you'rethe great Joseph Smith. Well, now, how on earth did you ever manage toget into this academy without knowing who Joseph Smith was? Didn't askyou that, you say? Well, they should have! Fellow-citizens and cadets,did you ever hear of such a thing? There must be some mistake here. The

very idea of letting a dunce like that in? Why, I knew who Joseph Smithwas about seventy-five years ago. Gentlemen, I move you that we carrythis case to the academy board at once. I shall use my influence to havethis man expelled. I never heard of such a preposterous outrage in mylife! Not know Joseph Smith! And he's too fat to be a cadet, anyhow.What do you say?"

"Come ahead! Come ahead!" cried the rest of the mob, indignant andsolemn.

And almost before the poor Indian could realize what they were doing, orgoing to do, the whole crowd arose gravely and marched in silence out ofthe room, bent upon their direful mission of having the Army Board expel

Indian because he had never heard of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet.And Indian swallowed every bit of it and sat and trembled for his life.

CHAPTER VI.

INDIAN'S RE-EXAMINATION.

It was a rare opportunity. The six yearlings made for camp on a run, andthere an interesting conference was held with a few more choice spirits,the upshot being that the whole crew set out for barracks again in highspirits, and looking forward to a jolly lark.

They entered the building, causing dire fear to several anxious-lookingplebes who were peering out of the windows and wondering if thisparticular marauding party was bound in their direction. It was one ofthe empty rooms that they entered, however, and there they proceeded tocostume one of their number, putting on a huge red sash, some medals, afew shoulder straps borrowed for the occasion, and, last of all, a falsemustache. This done, they hastened over to the room where theunfortunate "Mormon" still sat. The "officer" rapped sharply on thedoor.

"Come in," a voice responded weakly; the cadets came.


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"Mr. Smith, sir?" inquired the personage with the mustache.

"Yes, sir," said Indian, meekly, awed by the man's splendor.

"I have been requested by certain of the cadets of the United StatesMilitary Academy to investigate the circumstance of your alleged passingat the recent examination. I have been informed by these same gentleman

that when questioned by them you exhibited stupidity and ignorance sovery gross as to cause them to doubt whether you have any right to callyourself a cadet at all."

Here the cadets shook their heads solemnly and looked very stern indeed.

"Bless my soul!" cried Indian.

"In order to consider these very grave allegations," continued theother, "a special meeting of the Army Board was first convened, with thefollowing result:"

Here the speaker paused, cleared his throat pompously, and drew forth afrightfully official-looking envelope, from which he took a largeprinted sheet with the West Point seal upon the top.

"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th," he read--thatis the way all "orders" begin. "Cadet Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis,Indiana, it has just been ascertained, was admitted to the duties ofconditional cadet through an error of the examining board. Are-examination of Cadet Smith is hereby ordered to be conductedimmediately under the charge of the lord high chief quartermaster of theacademy. By order of the Academy Board. Ahem!"

The lord high chief quartermaster finished, and Cadet Smith sank down

upon the bed in horror.

"Sir!" shouted the officer, "how dare you sit down in the presence ofyour superiors? Get up, sir, instantly!"

Indian "got," weak-kneed and trembling.

"The examination will be held," continued the cadet, "in the ObservatoryBuilding, at once. Gentlemen, you will conduct Mr. Smith there and awaitmy arrival."

The bogus officer desired time to change his uniform, as he knew itwould be risky to cross the parade in his borrowed clothing.

Now the Observatory Building is situated far away from the rest of theacademy, upon the hillside near Fort Putnam. And thither the party setout, the cadets freely discussing the probable fate of the unhappyplebe. It was the almost unanimous verdict that one who was sounutterably stupid as never to have heard of the great Joseph Smithwould not stand the ghost of a show. All of which was comforting to thelistening victim.

The Observatory was deserted and lonely. The door was locked, and theparty gained entrance by the windows, which alone was enough to exciteone's suspicion. But Indian was too scared to think.

The lord high chief quartermaster presently slipped in, once morebedecked with medals and mustache.


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The examining party got to work at once in a very businesslike andsolemn manner. The physical examination was to come first, they said. Ithad been the opinion of the Army Board that Mr. Smith was far too fat tomake a presentable cadet. The surgeons were busy that afternoon intrying to piece together several plebes who had been knocked all topieces by the yearlings for being too "B. J."--this was the explanation

of the lord high chief quartermaster--and so it would be necessary toexamine Indian here, and at once, too. And if it were found, as, indeed,would most probably be the case, that he was too fat, why then it wouldbe necessary for him to reduce weight immediately.

Several schemes were suggested as to how this might be done. There wasthe Shylock, the Shakespearian method, of a pound of flesh from near theheart. Cadet Corporal So-and-So suggested that several veal cutlets fromthe legs--each an inch thick--would serve. A veal cutlet an inch thickhe estimated--his great grandfather on his mother's other side had beena butcher, he stated--would weigh three pounds. Then Acting CadetSergeant Somebody-Else suggested a Turkish bath, the jockey's method,

together with very violent exercise. This plan was adopted finally asbeing the least likely to be fatal in its results.

But just then somebody suddenly thought of the fact that it would bebest to weigh the subject first, which was considered a good idea, butfor the fact that they had no scales. This trouble "feazed" the crowd atfirst. Then the lord high chief quartermaster said that he was afirst-rate judge of weight, having slaughtered hogs in his youth, andcould tell by the feel. So Mr. Joseph Smith must be immediately"boosted" up and balanced upon the cadet's outstretched hand, there tobe shaken and otherwise tested, while the man below made audiblecalculations by means of trigonometrical formulas as to what was hisactual weight.

The result of this experiment, as might have been expected, was by nomeans very definite. The lord high chief, etc., thought the weight wastoo much, but he couldn't be sure. And then Cadet "Admiral" Jonesproposed another scheme. He had been a juggler "when he was young;" hewas used to tossing heavy weights; in fact, he just happened to knowthat he could throw three hundred pounds exactly twelve feet, the heightof the ceiling. It was obvious, therefore, that if Indian weighed overthat he would not reach the ceiling; but if he should go through theceiling that would mean just as clearly that he was under the limit andneed not "reduce."

In vain did the frightened boy protest that he weighed only one hundredand fifty; the test must be made, and made it was. Indian's terrifiedform did not once get near the ceiling, and so reduce he must. Thecadets formed a circle about the room.

"Now," said the commanding official, "now you must manage to reduceweight quickly this way, or we shall try the veal cutlet scheme. Soyou'll find it best to hurry. We want you to run around the outside ofthis circle. We'll give you just ten and one-quarter minutes by my watch(which runs very fast, by the way) to get around fifty times. And inthe course of that you must manage to perspire fifteen pounds of weight(enough to make you go through the ceiling). This is equal to half agallon of water. Now then! Take off your coat, sir. Ready! Set!! Go!!!

Why don't you start, sir? There now! Hurry up! One second--twoseconds--three--four--fi'--six--sev'n--eight--nine--ten--'leven! Faster!Faster!! Hurry up! One minute! You haven't lost a pound yet! What! Out


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of breath already? Faster! That's right! Keep it up now!"

The scene at this stage of the "examination" is left to the imagination;Indian, wild-eyed, panting and red, plunging wildly around in a dizzycircle of a dozen laughing cadets. And in the center the lord high withhis watch slowly telling off the minutes.

"Two minutes there, two minutes! Come now, hurry up! Don't begin to lagthere! Why don't you stop that panting? There goes the first drop ofperspiration. Hooray, there's another! It'll soon be a gallon now. Twoand a quarter!"

Poor Joseph kept it up to five, by which time he was so dizzy that hecould not stand up; which was the best reason in the world why he sankdown utterly breathless in the corner. And there he lay gasping, thecadets in vain trying to get him to rise.

"I think," said the presiding officer, nearly convulsed withlaughter--"I think that is reduction enough for the present, and I say

we proceed to the 'mental.'"

A conference was held over in one corner of the room, as to what thequestions should be; and then in an evil hour (for them) an idea struckone of the cadets.

"See here, fellows," said he. "I think he's been examined enough. Let'sget somebody else. Let's get---- Who's that learned chap?"

"Stanard?"

"Oh, yes, Stanard! The Parson! Let's get him."

The idea took with a rush. It would be so much more fun to fool thelearned Parson! And in a minute or two half the party, including thelord high chief quartermaster, was on its way back to barracks to huntup the new victim, while the rest stayed to resuscitate Indian and towrite out a list of questions for the "mental examination."

CHAPTER VII.

THE EXAMINATION OF THE PARSON.

The "examining board" had the good luck to come upon the Parson in asecluded spot near the Observatory. The Parson had left the library fora walk, his beloved Dana under his arm and the cyathophylloid coral inone of his pockets. The "committee" made a rush at him.

"Mr. Stanard?" inquired the lord high, etc.

Mr. Stanard bowed in his grave, serious way, his knees stiff, and hishead bobbing in unison with his flying coat tails.

"Mr. Stanard, I have been sent by the Army Board to read the inclosed

notice to you. Ahem!"

Mr. Stanard peered at the speaker. His mustache fooled the Parson, and


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the Parson bowed meekly.

Once more the cadet took out the official envelope and with apreliminary flourish and several "ahems!" began to read:

"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th. Cadet PeterStanard, of Boston, Massachusetts, it has just been ascertained, was

admitted to the duties of conditional cadet through an error of theexamining board. A re-examination of Cadet Stanard is hereby ordered tobe conducted immediately under the charge of the--ahem!--superintendentof ordnance, in the Observatory Building. By order of the Academy Board.Ahem!"

Now, if Cadet Peter Stanard had been a cadet just a little longer hewould never have been taken in by that device, for Cadet Peter Stanardwas no fool. But as it was, he did not see that the order was absurd.

He went.

Again the procession started with the same comments as before; thistime, however, the door was not locked, and the party entered, soughtout another room where stood several solemn cadets at attention,respectfully saluting the superintendent of ordnance, ex-lord high.

"Cadet Stanard," said the latter, "take a chair. Here is pencil andpaper. What is that book there. Geology? Well, give it to me untilafterward. Now, Mr. Stanard, here are ten questions which the boardexpects you to answer. These are general questions--that is, they areupon no particular subject. The board desires to test your generalstock of information, the--ahem!--breadth, so to speak, of yourintellectual horizon. Now you will be allowed an hour to answer them.And since I have other duties in the meantime, I shall leave you,

trusting to your own honor to use no unfair means. Mr. Stanard,good-day."

Mr. Stanard rose, bobbed his head and coat tails and sat down. Thesuperintendent marched out, the cadets after him. The victim heard a keyturn in the door; the Parson glanced at the first question on thepaper--

"I. When are cyathophylloid corals to be found in fossiliferoussandstone of Tertiary origin?"

"By the bones of a Megatherium!" cried the Parson, "The very thing I waslooking for myself and couldn't find."

And forthwith he seized his pencil, and, without reading further, wrotea ten minutes' discourse upon his own researches in that same line.

"That's the best I can do," said he, wiping his brow. "Now for thenext."

"II. Name any undiscovered island in the Pacific Ocean."

The Parson knitted his brows in perplexity and reread the question.

"Undiscovered," he muttered. "Undiscovered! Surely that word is

undiscovered. U-m-yes! But if an island is undiscovered how can it haveany name? That must be a mistake."


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In perplexity, the Parson went on to the next one.

"III. If a dog jumps three feet at a jump, how many jumps will it takehim to get across a wall twelve feet wide?"

"IV. In what year did George Washington stop beating his mother?"

A faint light had begun to dawn upon Stanard's mind; his face began toredden with indignation.

"V. What is strategy in warfare? Give an example. If you were out ofammunition and didn't want the enemy to know it, would it be strategy togo right on firing?"

"VI. If three cannibals eat one missionary, how many missionaries willit take to eat the three cannibals?"

"VII. If a plebe's swelled head shrinks at the rate of three inches aday, how many months will it be before it fits his brains?"

And Stanard seized the paper, tore it across the middle and flung it tothe floor in disgust. Then he made for the door.

"There's going to be a fight!" he muttered. "I swear it by the SevenHills of Rome!"

The Parson's blood was boiling with righteous indignation; he had"licked" those same cadets before, or some of them, and he meant to doit again right now. But when he reached the door he halted for a momentto listen to a voice he heard outside.

"I tell you I cannot do it! Bless my soul!"--the Parson recognized the

sound. "I tell you I have lost enough weight already. I can't run again.Now, I'll go home first. Bless my soul!"

"Oho!" said the Parson. "So they got poor Indian in this thing, too.Um--this is something to think over."

With his usual meditative manner he turned and took his seat again,carefully pulling up his trousers and moving his coat tails as he didso. Clearing his throat, he began to discuss the case with himself.

"It is obvious, very obvious, that my condition will in no way beameliorated by creating a suspicion in trying to make a forceful exitthrough that locked door.

"It would be a more efficacious method, I think, in some way to manageto summon aid. Perhaps it would be well to endeavor to leave in secret."

And with this thought in mind he went to the window.

"It would appear," he said, gravely, as he took in the situation, "thatthe 'high-thundering, Olympian Zeus' smiles propitiously upon my plan."

And with this classic remark he stuck one long shank out of the window,followed it with another just as long, and stood upon the cornice overthe door of the building, which chanced to be in reach. From there he

half slid, half tumbled to the ground, arose, arranged his necktiecarefully, gazed about him solemnly to hear if any one had seen him, andfinally set out at a brisk pace for barracks, taking great, long


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strides, swinging his great, long arms, and talking sagely to himself inthe meanwhile.

"When the other two members of our--ahem!--alliance are made aware ofthe extraordinary condition of affairs," he muttered, "I think that I amjustified in my hypothesis when I say there will be some excitement."

There was.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE RESCUE PARTY.

Mark and Texas were seated on the steps of barracks when the Parson camethrough the sally port. The two were listening to the music of the band

at the Saturday afternoon hop in the Academy Building, and also watchingseveral cadets paying penalties by marching sedately back and forth inthe area.

Stanard strolled in slowly with no signs of excitement. He came up andsat down beside the two in his usual methodical way.

"Good-afternoon, gentlemen," said he. "Good-afternoon. I have somethingto deliberate upon with you if it is perfectly agreeable."

It was agreeable, and so the Parson told his story, embellishing it withmany flourishes, classical allusions and geological metaphors. And whenhe finished Texas sprang up in excitement.

"Wow!" he cried. "Let's go up thar an' clean out the hull crowd."

"It is best to deliberate, to think over our plan of attack," returnedthe Parson, calmly, and with a mild rebuke in his tone, which remindedTexas of his promise never to get excited again, made him sit downsheepishly.

"I think," put in Mark, "that we ought to think up some scheme to scare'em off, or get away with Indian, or something. It's a harmless joke,you know, so what's the use of fighting over it?"

"Oh," growled Texas, in disgust.

"If we could only manage to turn the tables on them," continued Mark."Shut up a while, and let's think a few minutes."

And then there was silence, deep and impressive, while everybody got his"ratiocinating apparatus," as the Parson called it, to work. Mark wasthe first to break it.

"Look here, Parson," said he, "what's the name of all those chemicals ofyours that you hid up the chimney for fear the cadet officers 'd makeyou give 'em up?"

The Parson rattled off a list of unpronounceable names, at the mentionof one of which Mark sprang up.


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"Get it! Get it! you long-legged Boston professor, you!" he shouted."Never mind why! But I've got something in my pocket that'll--gee whiz!Hurry up!"

The Parson did as he was commanded, and in about as much of a hurry aswas possible for him. And Mark tucked the bottle under his coat and thethree set off in haste to the rescue, Texas grumbling meanwhile and

wanting to know why in thunderation a square stand-up fight wasn't justas good as anything.

An Indian war party could not have made a more stealthy entrance thandid the three. They climbed in one of the windows on the lower floor,the basement, and then listened for any sound that might tell them whatwas going on above. They heard voices conversing in low tones, but nosigns of hazing; the reason of that fact being that Indian was just thenlocked in another room hard at work on his "mental examination," thesame one that had been given to Stanard. And poor Indian was strivinghis best to think of the name of any undiscovered island which he hadever heard of.

Mark took the big bottle from under his coat, set it on the floor andtook out the cork. From his pocket he took a paper containing a thickblack powder. This he poured carefully into the bottle, put in the cork,and then turned and made a dash for the window. Outside, the three madefor the woods nearby and hid to watch.

"Just wait till enough of that dissolves," said Mark. "Just wait."

Meanwhile, upstairs, the hilarious cadets were chuckling merrily overthe predicament of their two victims. The lord high, etc., andsuperintendent had carefully timed the hour that the Parson was to havefor his answers; the hour was up, and the official had arisen, turned

the key, and was in the very act of opening the door when suddenly--

Bang! a loud report that shook the doors and windows of the building andmade the cadets spring up in alarm. They gazed in one another'sfrightened faces, scarcely knowing what to think. And then up thestairway slowly rolled a dense volume of heavy smoke, that seemed tofill the building in an instant.

"Fire! Fire!" yelled the whole crowd at once, and, forgetting both theirvictims in the mad excitement, they made a wild dash down the stairs forthe door.

"Fire! Fire!" rang out their cries, and a moment later a big bell downat barracks sounded the alarm--"Fire! Fire!"

And over in the woods three conspirators sat and punched one another forjoy.

CHAPTER IX.

HEROISM OF THE PARSON.

The cadets of the academy are organized into a fire department for thesafety of the post. It is the duty of the cadets upon the sounding of


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a sign of flame.

The mystery got more and more interesting; the whole crowd came in--thesmoke having all gone by this time--to see if, perchance, a little morediligent search might not aid; and the people kept coming until finallythe place was so packed that there was no room for the fire anyway. Andso finally every one gave it up in disgust and went home, including the

gallant fire brigade. And the three conspirators in the woods went, too,scarcely able to hide their glee.

"It's jest one on them ole cadets!" vowed Texas.

Of course, the Army Board ordered a strict investigation, which wasmade--and told nothing. All that was found was a few bits of brokenglass in one room, and an "examination paper" in another. Indian washauled up, terrified, to explain; he described his hazing, butsteadfastly refused names--which was good West Point etiquette--hevowed he knew nothing about the fire--which was the truth--also WestPoint etiquette. And since Indian was mum, and there was no one else to

investigate, the investigation stopped, and the affair remained a WestPoint mystery--a mystery to all but three.

CHAPTER X.

MORE TROUBLES.

"No, sir! I wouldn't think of it, not for a moment. The fellow's acoward, and he don't deserve the chance."

And Cadet Corporal Jasper brought his fist down on the table with abang.

"No, sir," he repeated. "I wouldn't think of it!"

"But he wants to fight!" exclaimed the other.

"Well, he had a chance once; why didn't he fight then? That's what Iwant to know, and that's what he won't tell us. And as far as I'mconcerned Mallory shall lie in the bed he's made. I wouldn't honor himwith another chance."

It was an afternoon late in June, and the two speakers were discussingsome ice cream at "the Dutchwoman's" and waiting for the call toquarters before dress parade.

"If that fellow," continued Corporal Jasper, "had any reason on earthfor getting up at midnight, dodging sentry and running out of barracks,to stay till reveille, except to avoid fighting you that morning, now,by jingo! I want to know what it is! The class sent me to ask him, andhe simply said he wouldn't tell, that's all. His bluff about wantinganother chance won't work."

"Well, if we don't," protested Williams, the other man, a tall,

finely-built fellow, "if we don't, he'll go right on getting fresh,won't he?"


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"No, sir, he won't! We'll find a way to stop him. In the first place,he's been sent to Coventry. Not a man in the academy'll speak to him; hemay not mind that for a while, but I think he won't brave it out verylong. Just you watch and see."

"The only trouble with that," said Williams, "is that he's not cut byall the fellows. I've seen three of the plebes with him."

"What!" cried the other, in amazement. "Who?"

"Well, there's that fellow he seconded in the fight----"

"Texas, you mean?"

"Yes, Texas. Then that long-legged scarecrow Stanard was out walkingwith him this very day. And I saw that goose they call the Indiantalking to him at dinner, and before the whole plebe class, too."

"Well, now, by jingo! they'll find it costs something to defy the

corps!" exclaimed Jasper. "It's a pretty state of affairs, indeed, ifthree or four beasts can come up here and run this place as they please.They'll find when an order's given here they'll obey, or else they canchase themselves home in a hurry. That fellow Mallory must be a fool!There's never been a plebe at this academy's dared to do half what he'sdone."

"That's why I think it would be best to lick him. I'm not sure I can doit, you know, but I think it would be best to try."

"That fellow started out to be B. J. at the very start," growled theexcitable corporal, after a moment's thought. "Right at the very start!'Baby' Edwards was telling me the other day how way last year this

fellow met with an accident--fell off the express or something--andwhile he was staying down at the Falls Baby and a couple of otherfellows thought he was a candidate, and started in to haze him. He wassassy as you please then. And after that he went out West, where helives, and did some extraordinary thing--saved an express, I believe,and sent in an account to a paper for a lot of money. Of course that gothim dead stuck on himself, and then he goes and wins a cadetship hereand thinks he can run the earth. He was so deucedly B. J. he had to goand lock Edwards and Bull Harris in an icehouse down near the Falls!"

"You see what's happened now," he continued, after a moment's pause."Your challenge brought him up with a round turn, and he saw his bluffwas stopped. He was afraid to fight, and so he hid, that's all. But, byjingo, he'll pay for it if I've got anything to say in the matter!"

And the little corporal made the dishes on the table rattle.

Corporal Jasper and Cadet Williams had finished their council and theirice cream by this time, and arose to go just as the roll of drum washeard from "Camp McPherson." The two strolled off in the direction ofthe summons, Jasper just as positive and vehement as ever.

"You shan't fight him," he declared. "And if sending him to Coventrydoesn't do any good, we'll find some other way, that's all! And we'llkeep at him till he learns how to behave himself if it takes the whole

summer to do it."

This was the young cadet officer's parting vow, as he turned and entered


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his tent.

CHAPTER XI.

DISADVANTAGES OF "COVENTRY."

"Sir, the parade is formed!"

Thus spoke the cadet adjutant as he approached the lieutenant incommand, and a moment later, at the word, the battalion swung around andmarched across the campus. It was the evening dress parade of perhapsthe best drilled body of troops in the country, and West Point was outin holiday attire to see it.

Seated on the benches beneath the trees on the western edge of the

parade ground was a crowd of spectators--visitors at the post and nearlythe whole plebe class besides. For this was Saturday afternoon holiday,and the "beasts" had turned out in a body to witness the performance ofwhat they were all hoping some day to be.

It was a "mighty fine" performance, and one that made those same beastsopen their eyes with amazement. Spotless and glittering in theiruniforms were the cadets, and they went through all manner of difficultevolutions in perfect unison, marching with lines as straight and evenas the eye could wish. It is a pretty sight, a mass of gray in a settingof deep green--the trees that encircle the spot, and it made the poorhomesick "beasts" take a little interest in life once more.

Among these "beasts" were Mark and Texas. They sat under the trees alittle apart from the crowd and watched the scene with interest. Markhad seen dress parades before; Texas had not, and he stared with openeyes and mouth, giving vent to an exclamation of amazement and delightat intervals.

"Look a' yere, Mark," he cried, "d'you think we'll ever be able do thata' way. Honest, now? I think I'll stay!"

"Even after you get through fightin?" laughed Mark.

"I don't think I want to fight any more," growled Texas, looking glum."Since you an' me fit, somehow fightin' ain't so much fun."

"What's the fun o' fightin' ef you git licked?" he added, after amoment's thought.

"I never tried it," said the other, laughing. "But I suppose you'll bereal meek now and let them haze you."

"Yaas!" drawled Texas, grinning. "Yes, I will! Them ole cadets git afterme, now, by jingo, I'll go out there an' yank some of 'em out thatparade an' lick them all t'once. But say! look at that chap on a horse."

"That chap's the commandant," said Mark, "and he's going to review the

parade for a change."

"I wish I was in it," exclaimed Texas, "an' I wish I knew all that


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rigamarole they're doin' now"--that "rigamarole" being themanual-at-arms. "I jest believe if I had somebody to teach me 'cept that'ere yellin' tomcat of a Cadet Spencer I'd learn in a jiffy, dog on hisboots!"

"There he is now," said Mark, "in the second line there. And there onthe outside with his chevrons is Corporal Jasper, 'the committee.' They

look very different when they're in line."

"Nothin' 'd make that red-headed, freckle-faced coyote of a drill-masterlook different," growled Texas. "I jes' wish he was bigger'n me so's Icould git up a scrap with him. Jest think o' that little martinet ayellin' at me an' tellin' me I didn't have any sense. To-day, forinstance, d'you remember, he was tryin' to show Indian how to march an'move his legs, an' Indian got twisted up into a knot; an' durnation,jist because I laughed, why he rared round an' bucked fo' an hour!What's the harm in laughing, anyhow?"

And Texas glared so savagely at his tormentor as the line swept by just

then that Mark concluded there was no harm and laughed.

"You're getting to be very stupid company, Texas," said he. "You neverdo anything but growl at the cadets. I wish I had some diversion."

And Mark turned away in mock disgust and glanced down the archway oftrees.

"Here she comes," he said, after a moment's pause. "That's she walkingup the path with a cadet and another girl."

Texas turned as Mark spoke, and looked in the direction of his nod.

"So that's Mary Adams!" he exclaimed. "Well! well! That's the girl youdodged barracks for, and risked your commission, and missed the fight,and got called a coward, and sent to Coventry, and lots else. I swear!"

"That's the one," said Mark, smiling.

"She's stunning pretty," added Texas, as the trio drew near. "Gee-whiz!I don't blame you."

"I liked her right well myself," admitted the other. "That is after Isaw her with that brother of hers. She certainly is a good sister tohim. But the cadets say she's something of a flirt, and Wicks Merrittadvised me to leave her alone, so I guess I shall."

"Sunday school teacher!" said Texas, laughing. "We'll have to call youParson, instead of Stanard. But I guess you're right. That's not a verybeautiful looking cadet she's with."

The three were passing then, and Mark arose.

"I guess I'll have to go speak to her," said he. "She's beckoning to me.Wait a moment."

Texas watched his friend approach the group; he could not hear what wassaid, however, and so he turned away to watch the parade. By doing it he

missed an interesting scene.

Mary Adams welcomed Mark with a look of gratitude and admiration that


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Mark could not fail to notice. She had not forgotten the magnitude ofthe service he had done for her. And then she turned to her twocompanions.

"Miss Webb," she said, "let me present Mr. Mallory."

The other girl bowed, and Mary Adams turned to the cadet.

"Mr. Murray, Mr. Mallory," said she.

And then came the thunderclap. Mark put out his hand; the cadet quietlyput his behind his back.

"The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams," said he, "do not speak to Mr.Mallory. Mr. Mallory is a coward!"

It was a trying moment; Mark felt the blood surge to his head, hisfingers twitched and his lip quivered. He longed to spring at thefellow's throat and fling him to the ground.

It was a natural impulse. Texas would have done it. But Mark controlledh

a cadet's honor, upton sinclair

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